For Some Scholars, a Full Professorship Calls for ‘a Lot of Paperwork’ That ‘Doesn’t Mean Anything’

For tenure-track faculty members, the first promotion, to associate professor, can make or break an academic career. Without it, they have to search for another job, since a tenure denial eventually results in termination.

But promotion from associate to full professor is something different. While full professor is typically the highest rank possible, the title isn’t required to maintain employment. Some faculty members simply decide not to pursue it — most notably, one of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics, Donna Strickland.

Strickland, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, told the Waterloo Region Record that climbing the career ladder didn’t seem worth the effort when her job wasn’t at stake and a pay raise wasn’t a given.

“It’s all on me. I think people are thinking it’s because I’m a woman, I’m being held back,” said Strickland, who has been an associate professor at Waterloo since 2002, according to the Optical Society website. “I’m just a lazy person. I do what I want to do, and that wasn’t worth doing.”

Scholars weighed in on Twitter, many of them arguing that Strickland’s reasoning made sense. The application process calls for some heavy administrative work to compile documentation of achievements and secure external letters, among other things.

“It’s a lot of paperwork, and it really doesn’t mean anything — unless your self-worth is wrapped up in your job title,” wrote Joanne O’Meara, a professor of physics at the University of Guelph, in Ontario.

Taking time to vie for a promotion means time not spent doing other things, as Robin James, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, pointed out. “The raise is v v small & I could write a whole article in the time it would take to put together the promotion materials.”

Some faculty members might not care about titles, but being a full professor has a certain prestige. Full professors set departmental culture, they’re among the gatekeepers of the faculty ranks, and their presence can be helpful in recruiting other professors.

They also have even more freedom to speak freely about various issues and to pursue research agendas that pique their interest.

But the expectations for service are much higher, tweeted one academic.

The University of Waterloo has said that Strickland is a valued faculty member. According to its tenure-and-promotion policy, essential for promotion to full professor is “a continuous program of scholarship with positive peer review by nationally and internationally recognized scholars.”

Strickland, if she does decide to apply, should be in good shape.

Audrey Williams June is a senior reporter who writes about the academic workplace, faculty pay, and work-life balance in academe. Contact her at audrey.june@chronicle.com, or follow her on Twitter @chronaudrey.